


Passing Angels

by vvj5 (lost_spook)



Category: Doctor Who (2005), Doctor Who (Big Finish Audio), Torchwood
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-04-13
Updated: 2009-04-13
Packaged: 2017-11-08 04:20:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/439087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lost_spook/pseuds/vvj5
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Martha makes another leap through time, just as one Thomas Hector Schofield is heading back home from work.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Passing Angels

**Author's Note:**

> For Persiflage, who wanted a Hex/Martha story. I wrote this to oblige, although it went more wildly AU than I had planned. I'm still making Hex's acquaintance, so please be patient if I've made any mistakes. Some spoilers for the BFA _The Harvest_.

Martha smacked into the ground with an inelegant slide, hitting the tarmac of the small side-street too heavily and grazing her hands. She gasped out, winded, and thought to herself she should have known better than to be in the same room as someone playing around with alien time travel technology, even if Jack had thought the biggest danger was a small explosion from the damaged equipment. But no, she couldn’t seem to help herself, could she?

“Oh my -- What _are_ you?” asked a voice from behind her. She’d been seen.

“ _What_ am I?” she said, turning.

She found herself facing a young man, blond and not particularly threatening, which made a change. He looked more alarmed by her presence than vice versa.

“Well, either that or how did you do that – and are you all right?” he amended, moving nearer.

Martha picked herself up cautiously. “Well, firstly, I’m not a what, thanks, and secondly, I don’t know. And thirdly, just about, I think.”

“Okay,” he said, still watching her warily. “Maybe I’ll try for: 'are you real?’ next.”

She folded her arms. “As real as they come. How about you?”

“Me? You fall out of the sky and you’re asking me if _I’m_ real?”

Martha bit her lip and coloured very slightly. “I didn’t. I fell from …” She looked around her for inspiration and found none. “I jumped,” she finished weakly. “I expect it looked odd from that angle -”

“It looked about as weird as some of the other stuff I’ve seen,” he told her. “That’s why I’m wondering if you’re real. Everything else that came under that heading wasn't fun. Beautiful girls start dropping out of the sky – I should probably check myself into psychiatric right now.”

She tried not to laugh. “Yeah, I see where you’re coming from. Look, I’m real and I’m not dangerous, okay?”

“That’s what you’d say anyway,” he pointed out.

Martha hesitated. “You said you’d seen weird stuff before. What sort of weird? I mean, not anything to do with the Doctor?”

“Well, yeah, actually.” He stared at her and then moved closer. “You’ve got something to do with him? Well, that makes some sort of sense. Odd stuff and crazy, pretty girls. It’s his sort of thing.”

“It’s a long story.”

“I’ve just finished work,” he returned. “I’ve got time.”

She glanced up at the morning sky above.

“Night shift,” he said, catching the look. “I’m a nurse.”

Martha said, “Funny. I’m a doctor.”

“Look, I’m Hex,” he told her. “You got a name?”

“Martha Jones. You really know the Doctor?”

“Yeah. I do – did, I mean.”

She shook her head. “I might have known. I get flung through time and space and land up right in front of someone who’s met the Doctor.”

“Lucky for you,” said Hex. 

She smiled at him. “I suppose it is. At least you can help me. I need to know where and when I am and -” She trailed off at his words. “What is it? Have I got something on my face or -?”

“No,” he said. “Only you should probably give out warning notices before you go around doing that sort of thing.”

Martha took a moment to work it out and then rolled her eyes. “What, _smiling_? Give it a break.”

“Only stating the facts,” he responded. “It’s been a long shift and then girls fall out of the sky and start smiling. It’s off-putting. You want breakfast?”

“What?”

He shrugged. “Well, I’m starving. How about you?”

“I could murder a cup of coffee,” she confessed. “Only I bet I haven’t got the cash or – what’s the year?”

Hex said, “See? This is crazy. _You’re_ crazy. 2023, if you want to know.”

“That’s what I thought – well past my debit card’s expiry date.”

He hesitated. “The Doctor. Is he here?”

“No,” she said. “You had the right idea. Let’s go somewhere and I’ll try and explain. It'll take a while.”

He nodded. “Right. And if I fall asleep, it’s not you being boring, right? Just the night shift.”

“Okay,” said Martha with a laugh.

*

Martha put her hands around the mug of coffee he’d bought her and contemplated the tea cake in front of her. Then she caught him watching her still. “What is it now?”

“Nothing.”

She took a bite of the tea cake and saw his expression change and she nearly choked on it. He’d still been wondering whether she was real or not. Evidently he didn’t think hallucinations ate tea-cakes. “I’m _real_ ,” she said, beginning to feel irritated by his disbelief. “Come off it. You said you knew the Doctor. If that’s true, you’ve seen weirder things than me.”

He turned his attention back to his own coffee hastily. “Yeah. True.”

Now Martha was watching him and remembering too late that that was the other side of running into the Doctor. Death and aliens and people getting hurt and the world never looking the same again. A whole lot smaller and more vulnerable somehow.

“So,” he said, pushing whatever memories there were to the back of his mind. “Did you parachute in or are you some sort of angel?”

*

Martha opened her mouth and wondered how far back to start, but stuck to the bare facts about the pile of alien technology they’d hauled in at Torchwood and how Jack had identified it as time technology and had a go at re-assembling it. He’d been going to test it on himself, but it turned out there was something vital they were missing (well, they didn’t have a manual) because it had been Martha who’d suddenly been catapulted to another time and place, not Jack. It worked, though.

“It’s a bit of coincidence, though, isn’t it?” said Hex, frowning. “I mean, that happening and then you landing right in front of me?”

She said, “I don’t know if it is. I think maybe time travellers attract each other. I don’t know. I mean, I’m the medical expert, not a scientific genius like some people. It does seem to work like that, though.”

“I’m not a time traveller,” objected Hex and she noticed that faint shadow cross his face again.

She thought about it. “Been inside the TARDIS?”

“In the -? Oh, yeah. I have. This never happened before though.”

She rested her face on her hands. “It seems to happen to me a lot.”

“Well, but – what are you going to do? How can you get back?”

Martha bit her lip. “I don’t know. I mean, Jack had all the stuff, not me – it was supposed to be him jumping elsewhere in time. But if he got that pile of junk to work once, he’ll find a way to do it again and get me back. I’m sure of it.”

Saying it aloud, although it was true, made her wonder exactly what she was supposed to do if he didn’t. She’d always managed it somehow before, but maybe this time she was stuck and in the worst sort of era to be stuck in, only a decade or so in the future when she’d probably have to give herself an alias and go round avoiding friends or relatives for the rest of her life.

“If there’s anything I can do to help,” he offered.

She grinned at him. “Got a spare time machine?”

“No,” he said. “Seriously, I mean. If you need anything -”

The waitress crossed over to them. “Dr Martha Jones?”

“Yes?” She looked up and then the use of her name registered and she widened her dark eyes.

The girl handed over an envelope. “This came for you earlier.”

“Er, thanks,” said Martha and took it from her, turning it over curiously. She opened it and read the contents: _Martha_ , it read, _Be at Nelson’s Column at 10.15am and we’ll get you back. Jack._ “Oh, very inconspicuous,” she couldn’t help but mutter.

Hex watched, his breakfast abandoned. “Okay. What’s going on?”

“It’s Jack,” she explained. “He’s found a way.”

“Yeah, right,” he said, pushing his plate aside. “You’re a time-travelling friend of the Doctor’s and you don’t know anyone here, but somebody’s sending you notes? This is a set-up, isn’t it?”

“No, of course not!”

He scraped his chair back and got up. “Yeah. It is. I don’t know what’s going on and if this is some really, really elaborate joke of Mark’s, or if it’s worse and someone wants revenge on the Doctor, only he’s not around, so -”

“Honest,” said Martha, getting to her feet. “I told you. It’s from Jack. He must have found a way of getting a message to the future. It looks pretty old. He could have told them to put it in – I don’t know – a bank or something and then deliver it on this date -”

“What? I’ve had enough of this, Mystery Girl. I’m going. You finish your coffee and have a good laugh, or whatever it was you came for.”

She didn’t know why it mattered, now that she had a link back to the past, but it did. “Hex. Please. At least tell me the way to Trafalgar Square from here. I don’t know where I am and I don’t exactly have an Oyster card on me.”

“You’ve got a nerve,” he said and she could hear the hurt in his voice. “You’ve already had breakfast on me. Go away.”

She hurried after him. “I told you the truth. Is this any weirder than the rest? And at least, tell me where I am and I’ll get there myself.”

“No,” he said, still standing warily in the doorway. A woman in a business suit tried to enter and glared at him, so he moved back out onto the pavement.

She said, “Hex -”

“Okay, okay,” he said. “Maybe it’s no weirder than the rest. Just promise me you’ve got nothing to do with those cyber things.”

Martha’s face creased in concern. “Cybermen? No. What happened when you met the Doctor?”

*

“So, it wasn’t fun,” he said as they walked down the street. “You should have seen what they did – it was horrible. I mean, I’ve done A & E for a few years now. You think nothing can shock you after that -”

Martha nodded. She knew about that, too.

“But this -” He shook his head. “And my friend -”

She squeezed his arm. “I’m sorry, Hex. And the Doctor -?”

“He scarpered pretty quick after it was over,” said Hex. “Mark and I had to try and explain. Well, mostly we said we didn’t know anything but that someone must have been doing nasty experiments on the top floor and left them to work out things for themselves. I mean, what can you say? Nobody believes stuff like that.”

She said, “But you’re okay. Your other friend, too?”

“Yeah, he healed up all right, although he likes to pretend it never happened.”

Martha said, “Well, what is it that still bothers you?”

“What, you mean aside from those _things_ and seeing what they did to -?” He bit back the rest.

“Yes,” said Martha. “Apart from that.”

He pulled her out of the mass of Londoners in rush hour, back towards the wall. “Okay. It was crazy, because, there I was, looking after Mark – he’d been hurt, like I said. And when they went – the Doctor and her – McShane – I thought about running after. I mean, just leaving everything and probably heading off into some other adventure that’d be even worse. ‘Cos they did this sort of thing all the time; that was obvious. But I didn’t – I mean, it’d be insane, right? And it wasn’t like they needed me tagging along or anything. That was pretty clear.”

“Oh,” she said.

He shrugged. “Well, it’d be crazy, wouldn’t it? Mental. You can’t go running off leaving your friends and your job and everything – and the whole hospital in chaos like that. So I stayed.”

“And you’ve regretted it ever since,” Martha finished for him, softly.

He nodded. “Yeah. Like mad. I mean, not like I think about it much now, but to begin with -- I mean, I’d probably only have got myself killed right off or something, but -”

“It’d be worth it,” said Martha. Impulsively, she hugged him. “Look, it sounds as though you made that decision for good reasons. Your friend needed you and you wanted to help with the rest.”

Hex shook his head. “No. I mean, there were enough members of the emergency services around for him. I just hesitated, like always. And that was it – they were gone.”

“Sorry.”

He looked at her. “You _did_ go with him, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” she confessed. “It was… something of an education.”

Hex paused. “Are you going to tell me it was awful and you hated every minute, to cheer me up?”

“Some parts were awful beyond belief,” said Martha. “But worth it. And I met Shakespeare!”

He gave a short laugh. “Well, I hope you punched him for all the spotty schoolboys he’s tortured over the centuries. I know what I’m talking about. I got made to do Romeo and Juliet, once.”

“No,” said Martha and grinned. “If you want to know, he was the biggest flirt I’ve ever met, apart from Jack. He wrote me a sonnet.”

“Yeah, all right. That helps. Let’s get you to Trafalgar Square and then I can go home and catch up on my kip and pretend this was all a dream.”

*

Trafalgar Square was already full of tourists. Families with children in bright coats, sitting next to the lions and tourists taking photos. The way back to Parliament Square could be seen clearly. It looked unchanged by the extra decade in between.

“Thanks,” she said to Hex. “That single cost a _fortune_.”

He shrugged, unsure what she meant.

“I’m from the past,” she reminded him. “It was at least half that last time I had to get one.”

He said, “Well, it’s been nice meeting you. Next time you feel like dropping by -”

“Believe me, there won’t be a next time,” she told him. Then she took a deep breath, making a reckless decision. She stepped deliberately closer. “Look, don’t get the wrong idea or anything and it’s not like I go round doing this all the time, but -.” She caught hold of his jacket and pulled him nearer. “It’s not like I’ve got any other way to say thank you -.”

“Oh my G-,” began Hex, before she stopped him with a kiss.

*

“So, thanks,” said Martha, moving back.

Hex swallowed. “Right. Any time. Sure you have to go?”

“Think about it,” she said. “Being lost in time isn’t fun, but only ten or so years in the future? That’s about as awkward as it gets.”

He nodded. “Right. But hang on – I want to thank you, too. I mean, you did try to cheer me up and all…”

*

Martha laughed, unable to help it as she moved away.

“What?” he demanded, the alarm back in his face. “What’s the joke?”

She shook her head, swallowing the daft amusement. “Oh, nothing. Just – back-to-front doctors and nurses.”

“That’s a sexist comment,” Hex said. “I’ll complain to your boss.”

*

Martha climbed up onto the plinth. She patted the nearest lion and watched the rest of the tourists. Only 10 o’clock, but better to be safe than sorry. She thought about that and then jumped back down, running back across to Hex, who was waiting. He wanted to see her vanish, he'd said. Just to make sure he really was going crazy.

“Come with me,” she said breathlessly. She was laughing at her own recklessness, but she had to ask.

Hex stared back at her. “What – leave? Drop everything and go with you to ten years in the past?”

She nodded.

“That’d be mental.”

“It would,” she agreed. “And it wouldn’t be safe – you should see the sort of things we get up to – but it won’t be boring. And I’m sure if Jack really can get that heap of junk to work a second time, he could do it a third time if you really hate it.”

Hex said, “I’m probably light-headed from lack of sleep, but yeah, okay.”

She grinned widely and helped him up.

A few minutes later, they’d vanished, causing a mild stir among the rest of the tourists.

*

“Martha!” said Jack, moving forward to envelope her in a crushing hug. “You’re back. Oh, and you brought a friend.” He looked Hex up and down approvingly. He grinned. “Nice.”

She clambered down from the small metal structure they’d landed back on and turned back to Hex, who looked mildly alarmed. “It’s just Jack,” she told him. “He’s like that with everyone.”

“Right.”

Martha frowned at Jack. “Oy. Hands off. I found him first; he’s mine.”

“Hey,” said Jack. “What did I do?”

She said, "Oh, nothing. But you'd better find a way to send this to that cafe - what was it called again, Hex?"

"Elizabeth's," he said, still sounding doubtful.

She gave Jack an apologetic smile.

"What's this? Hey, a baby time paradox, all our own," he countered with a grin. "Better not tell the Doctor."

She ignored him and took Hex’s hand. “Don’t panic. Welcome to Torchwood. We investigate weird stuff and save the planet.”

She’d said it wouldn’t be boring.


End file.
